Unix Timezone Settings

[cc.noyes]

Some Unix's (SCO Unixware for one...) uses a timezone setting in
/etc/TZ.  What's the relationship between the timezone setting and the
local time?  I assume the timezone is set to the local timezone (in our
case GMT+5 or US/EASTERN), but what about setting the local time?
Should I set it to GMT and let the timezone offset make the adjustment
to the correct local time, or do I set the local time  to the correct
local time?  And if I do that, what's the purpose of the timezone
setting?  I can't find where Linux uses a timezone setting.

Thanks,
Chuck

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